The Wild, Wild World of Jayne Mansfield

Synopsis

The Wild, Wild World of Jayne Mansfield began production in 1964 and continued shooting sporadically through 1967 as the budget was limited. The film consists of Mansfield visiting various locations throughout Europe and the United States. The European footage, shot in Rome and Paris, features Mansfield observing Italian roadside prostitutes, running from the paparazzi and attending the Cannes Film Festival. She is also filmed visiting "unusual" European locations such as a French nudist colony, strip clubs, a gay bar and a massage parlor. The footage shot in the United States features Mansfield judging a transvestite beauty pageant in New York City along with footage of dancers at a Los Angeles topless bar. Musical performances by the all-girl topless band The Ladybirds and Rocky Roberts & The Airedales (to which Mansfield does the Twist) are also included. Rounding out the film are clips of Mansfield's nude scenes from the 1963 sex comedy Promises! Promises!, the 1964 Italian film Primitive Love, and shots of her Playboy magazine pictorial.

Production ceased after Mansfield died in a car accident in June 1967. Upon her death, the film's producers added news footage about her death and photographs from the scene of her fatal car accident. The film concludes with a tour of Mansfield's Los Angeles home, the Pink Palace, given by her ex-husband Mickey Hargitay and a video tribute.

Home media

In September 2003, Something Weird Video released The Wild, Wild World of Jayne Mansfield along with another mondo film The Labyrinth Of Sex on Region 1 DVD.